Rhenus improves margins despite "extremely challenging" year

Rhenus Logistics managed to increase turnover and profit last year in the face of an extremely challenging period.

Revenue rose by 1.6% to £11.4m for the year ending 31 December 2020, with pre-tax profit increasing by 36.2% to £872,000.

Turnover from its transport business dropped slightly to £6.1m during the period, compared to £6.2m in 2019.

Warehousing and storage accounted for £5.4m (£5m).

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The board of Rhenus Logistics said the company had experienced “a period of stable turnover compared to prior year” and it was able to improve gross margins by 3% of sales.

“This increase in margin was achieved by focusing on meeting key customer requirements throughout what was an extremely challenging period for both the UK and world economies due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” it said.

“Whilst the business reacted to the challenges of Covid-19 well and was insulated from some of its impact by the nature of the long-term customer contracts it operates under, the company was inevitably forced to make use of some of the UK government’s support schemes to preserve jobs and protect cashflow at the height of the crisis.”